Tackling the Root of Insecurity: Why Some Workers Experience Less Insecurity in Today’s Labor Market

Today’s labor market presents many challenges. We focus on how insecurity arises from two challenges: an expiring temporary contract, and a low level of education. We argue that workers who face these challenges experience uncontrollability about their careers, and in turn, job- or employment insecurity. Crucially, we propose that proactive career behavior mitigates these effects at the root of the process: proactive career behavior should buffer the extent to which each challenge results in uncontrollability, thereby preventing the emergence of insecurity. We tested this moderated mediation model in a three- wave field study with two samples (N = 227 temporary workers, N = 205 contract-secure workers). Among temporary workers, proactive career behavior mitigated the damaging effects of an expiring contract on perceived control and subsequent job insecurity. However, among contract-secure workers, proactive career behavior only buffered against lack of control and subsequent employment insecurity for high-educated workers. Results also replicated previously established relationships between perceived insecurity and later stress and career satisfaction. Our study extends both insecurity research and control theory by focusing on the proactive prevention of insecurity. In today’s labor market, proactive career behavior may thus function as an alternative security mechanism, although it is not a one-size-fits-all solution.